Bottle Shock

This movie had been in my Netflix queue from day one; before that,
it was in my Blockbuster queue.
Now, being an anal geek,
I have a queue-purging algorithm. It told me that I should
either get this movie, or delete it from my queue. So I decided to
bump it up to the top. And it wasn't bad! I wouldn't have missed
anything by not seeing it, but it was a decent way to spend
an evening when there's nothing but reality shows on TV.

It is the fictionalized story of how California wines first gained respect
among the worldwide wine connoisseur community in the mid-1970s.
It concentrates on Chateau Montelena, where prickly winemaker Jim
Barrett (played by UMass graduate Bill Pullman)
is in debt up to his tastebuds, trying to get his Chardonnay
exactly right. He is semi-assisted by his son, Bo (Captain Kirk
himself, Chris Pine); unfortunately Bo is kind of a laid-back
hippie who is mostly out for a weed-fueled good time, something
that irritates his straight-arrow father. Bo has a
Hispanic buddy, Gustavo. And into the mix comes cute UC intern,
Sam, who wants to learn the vineyard biz.

Meanwhile, in Paris, the British Steven Spurrier (played by Alan Rickman) is
trying to get some respect among his peers. He gets the bright
idea of a blind taste test between California and French wine. And
he jets off to California to see if he can rustle up some good ones.

So, a little family drama, some broad humor, and a lot of people
making a big fuss over how good various wines are. Up front: Alan
Rickman's understated
and subtle performance is a big main reason to watch this.
A small fraction of actors can communicate volumes with a lip twitch
or the tiniest nod of the chin. Rickman is one of those.

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